The Hunter Returns
by BenjaminWest
Summary: Percy, or Perseus as he now prefered to go by, was not the same after that year. That one year they spent looking for him, that one year he was put through hell and came back, for better or worse. Will he continue to hunt, as he did the year he was gone, or will he fall to beasthood, branded as a traitor?
1. Chapter1

Olympus was quiet. Deadly quiet. Everyone was in mourning. This was two years after Percy made the ultimate sacrifice. _"To storm or fire, the world must fall." _Everyone thought that meant the might Jason Grace, or the aloof Leo Valdez, and they would be wrong to think as such. Storms was never Poseidon's main domain, it was a minor at best. Yet, the Hero of Olympus, the slayer of various giants, the commander of the Seven, the survivor of Tartarus had been the one to kill Gaia. The only awakened primordial and possibly the only one who hadn't faded, was slain by a demigod.

Inside the throne room, the atmosphere was even more dejected than outside. Everyone was somber, except for Dionysus, Ares, and Hera. Dionysus had no quarrel with Percy, but he also did not like him. Ares has always held a grudge against Percy, the duel when he was twelve always in his mind. Hera was just glad that the nussiance that has constantly antagonized her was finally gone for good. Or that's what she thought. Today was different though, because even thought no body had been found and Hades said his soul hadn't entered the underworld, Poseidon was calling off the search for his long lost son.

Over the past two years there had been quests to try to find the lost son of the sea, but all had failed. Either they came back empty handed or didn't come back at all. Such was the reason why the gods had pressured Poseidon to call of the hunt, they all owed Percy but they thought their efforts were hopeless. Indeed they were, but Poseidon has fallen into such a deep depression that the oceans were more fierce and relentless than ever, and it was affecting the mortal world. The only thing that could cure him was his lost son back, and that didn't look like a possibility anytime soon. Little did all of them know, that very thing was about to happen. But it would not be as heartwarming as they would think...

Perseus, or the Good Hunter as they doll called him, was standing over his mentor, Gehrmen, with nothing but contempt in his eyes. This man had done nothing for him. He had only watched when Persues died over and over and over. He gave no advice and simply told him the basics of the Dream. He even deceived him about the very nature of said Dream. In a way it was almost like the gods. He concealed his motives until he needed him, wanted him to die, or fight their fights for them. It was infuriating, but not again. Never again. Once he was free of this dream, he would cut all ties with the gods and live his own life. But first things first, the First Hunter lying on the ground, attempting to speak to him.

"Perseus listen to me! If you kill me you will take my spot. You will be the one teaching the new hunters. You will be the one stuck here forever never being able to escape and suffering. The Moon Presence will take you and you will be here in torment forever. It will be Hell!" Gehrmen pleaded, trying to make the young man see that it was all a ruse. Perseus was not having any of it though.

"It will be Hell? Have you ever been to Hell? You have no idea what Hell is like. You have no ide WHAT IVE BEEN THROUGH! And yet you sit in that chair and act all high and mighty! You have no right, NO RIGHT, to tell me what to do! You are selfish! You condemned so many people all because you couldn't deal with one of your student leaving!" Perseus shouted, causing a gasp from Gehrmen. "You think I didn't know about Maria and the Doll? You think I don't know about the horrible things you did just to get her back? You summoned a great one with a Third of an Umbilical Cord. You thought that maybe it would help you. Well I've dealt with gods before, and all they care about is themselves! They use you until you aren't needed anymore! Why else would I be stuck in this damn place!"

Gehrmen just looked on in shock. _"He's gone mad."_ He thought,

_"He talks as if he's had a great one summoned to him before. That's impossible though, he could never find an Umbilical Cord." _Gehrmen just laughed weakly, and blood came out as well as air. This reminded him and Perseus what was going to happen.

"It's over Gehrmen. You can finally get the Hell you deserve in this Gods forsaken place. Goodbye." Persues said, fury still alight in his eyes. He took his saw cleaver, and sliced through Gehrmen's throat, silencing the First Hunter forever. But it was far from over. As Perseus watched the Hunters body fade as he awoke somewhere, he felt a presence approaching. It looked as if it came right from the moon. It had tendrils that looked almost like hair, that was a mixture of red and black. It's body was bony and you could see the ribs. Perseus was unsure if this was a sort of armor, or if it was just the way it looked. Either way, the Dream was finally coming to an end. One way or another, he was going to escape from here. But the Moon Presence, as he dubbed it, tried to grab him in what seemed like a hug, if it weren't for the massive rib/teeth coming out from its chest. Perseus wondered if this was what happened to Gehrmen, and he started to thrash around. He was not going to end up staying here forever. He wanted to escape. He wanted to be free. As if sensing this, the Moon Presence held on tighter, refusing to let go. Then Perseus remembered how Gehrmen summoned the Moon Presence. He used an umbilical to summon it, so what if Perseus used one to kill it as well? While the Moon Presence has him in it's embrace, he grabbed the Cords from his pouch, and crushed them as quickly as possible. Suddenly his mind exploded with information. _Insight_ one could call it. The Moon Presence still didn't let go, so Perseus forced it to. He used his mind, and imagined it releasing him. Once he had it pictured, he focused on it until it hurt. He could feel the glass ball in his stomach start to crack and he immediately stopped himself, but it was enough.

The Moon Presence let go of his body at once and screeched as if it had been stabbed. Perseus could breathe again, and in doing so readied his Saw Cleaver knowing a fight was about to break out. This wasn't a normal fight, this was a fight against a Great One. A being higher than the gods. A being who saw humans as nothing more than ants. A being who saw gods as little more than nuisances. This didn't mean this they were antagonistic, just more powerful. Much more powerful.

All this ran through Perseus's mind as he was studying the Great One in front of him. It no longer mattered what he was fighting. It was merely a beast, and he was a Hunter. Hunters killed beasts. This one was no different.

Annabeth, Jason, Piper. Hazel. Frank, and Leo all stood around a pyre in the middle of the camp. They were going to be the ones to burn the pyre for the missing son of Sea. The camp had expanded a lot, having almost double the amount of demigods, despite the heavy losses they faced during the Giant War. Even so, there was not a single happy soul to be found. Those who fought in the Giant War knew Perseus to be a great hero, those who hadn't had heard about all of his accomplishments.

The shroud was to be burnt at midnight, when the moon was at its highest point. This signifies that the search was truly off, and that the son of the Sea was gone for good.

"This should have been a celebration," Annabeth started, addressing the whole crowd of demigods, gods, and even demititans in Calypso's case, "but it's not. It's the funeral of the greatest demigod to ever live. As such, I would humbly request each of the Olympians to state one of his titles or achievements." She finished while bowing in their direction.

"Very well, I will go first." Zeus said, while moving to the shroud and grabbing the torch. "Farewell Perseus, Returner of the Master Bolt." He finished, and handed the torch off to Apollo.

"Wish we could've hung out some more Perce, Conquerer of the Labyrinth." Apollo handed it off to Dionysus.

"Farewell Peter, slayer of whatever," Dionysus said, getting him glares from most of the gods and all of the demigods. He handed it off to Hephaestus.

"Farewell Perseus, Freer of Typhon and Bane of Hyperion" Hephaestus said solemnly and passed it off to Ares.

"So punk, you finally managed to get yourself killed huh? Can't say I'm surprised, you were one helluva fighter though. Farewell, Savior of New Rome." Area said, and passed it to Hermes.

"So long Perseus, Bane of Medusa and too many other notable monsters to list," Hermes said, getting a sad chuckle out of most of the demigods and some of the gods, while a tear rolled down his face as he reminisced. He looked at Poseidon and deemed him unable to talk at the moment and passed it to Demeter.

"Farewell Perseus, leader of the Seven." She passed it on to Hera.

"Goodbye Perseus, conquerer of the Sea of Monsterzs," Hera then passed it to Aphrodite.

"Goodbye Percy, bearer of the Curse of Achilles," she said as she shed a tear, and passed it on to Artemis.

"Farewell Perseus, carrier of the Weight of the Sky," Artemis said stoically, aa she passed it to Athena.

"Farewell Perseus, conquerer of Tartarus." She said. Poseidon finally looks up, tears rolling down his face as he signals for the torch. She hands it to him, making sure to not touch his skin. Old rivalries and all.

Poseidon takes a deep breath and tries to speak. "F-f-farewell s-son. I wi-" Poseidon trues his hardest to push through the tears, but has to stop to clear his throat. "I will always love you, you were the best son I have ever sired. I hope you find peace wherever you are. Goodbye, slayer of Kronos and Gaia. I love you." He finishes quietly, and lights the pyre.

Little did he know that Perseus was not finding peace, nor would this be the last goodbye. Far from it.

Perseus was fighting for his life. And he was losing. He was not worried though, far from it. The Great One he was currently fighting had just backed up to lick its wounds that it traded with the Hunter. This was a grueling fight, Persues had fought great ones before, and this was far from the toughest one. The Orphan of Kos comes to mind, rage flowing through his mind as he remembered the old saying. _"A hunter is never alone"_, what a load of bullshit.

If he could use help ever, it was against that beast. He had help from Simon for poor Ludwig, he had a foreign hunter's help with the failed attempts at greathood at the top of that vile institute, and to fight against a fellow hunter with backup would be a great violation of his honor he was not willing to respect. It was bad enough when Eileen and him hunted Henryk, no he would not do that to Gehrmen's student, Maria. But once he reached the coast, the old saying was once again proven to be incorrect. Simon, poor Simon, the man who helped him the most through this hellish Hunters Nightmare, was the one who needed help from him. And yet the man, proud or stupid only the gods know, refused to call. Simon no longer dreamt, and as such when Perseus had found him was already on his last leg of life.

"...Oh you. I'm afraid I've made a botch of things... I can hear the bell now... The beast hide assassin is after me... Again and again..." Persues remembers clearly, even as his opponent is readying itself Persues can't help but to remember but one of the lives he failed to save during this infernal hunt. He is too lost in his memory to see the beast slowly creeping forwards him. Not menacingly, more calmingly, life approaching a wounded animal. As it reached him, it reaches out and touches his face slowly, like a baby to a mother.

Perseus was now reliving that memory, reliving Simon's last words. Reliving running back down to the cell where Brador waited, tying him to the lone chair that stood and torturing him. Ripping off his fingernails and toenails, feeding the man more and more insight to make him go mad. Feeding him beast blood pellets so he no longer can be called man. But the worst part was Perseus enjoyed every second of it. He loved the way this man screamed as Perseus would cut off a finger here, and a toe there. He hated this man who killed one of his only friends in the damnable night, and took pleasure in making this man the beast he truly was.

As Perseus was going through this, the Great One was curious. It wondered what could make this man who just seconds before attempted to rip its heart out could make him cry and laugh at the same time. It was confused, this was something it had never seen something like this before. A human, a lowly being that only existed because Great Ones allowed them to, kill 3 great ones and in a fight with his fourth, start crying. It had understood Human emotions and enjoyed toying with them, so it started to go through Perseus's mind, not knowing what it was getting into.

The anger, sadness, rage, acceptance, contempt, and so much more overwhelmed the Great One. This was not the first time it had went through a humans mind or emotions, but it was the most emotion it had ever felt. It saw his entire life, his upbringing with a being called Smelly Gabe, it experience the travails and tribulations of every quest he went through, it felt the fear, agony, and despair of walking through Tartarus. It felt every little bit of happiness of getting out of that pit, getting to Athens, and finally it felt contempt towards Gaia. This was only half of the story though, as it lived through the anger towards the gods for sending him to a literal Hell, the distaste for killing Henryk dishonorably. His anguish after finding Gascoigne's daughter after he told her he would protect him. His disgust at finding Alfred turned into a madman, his sympathy for Ebriatas. His friendship with Simon, having turned into ugly boiling rage for Brador. His contempt for the host of the Dream, and finally his commitment to either end this Dream or die and get sent to the Underworld.

Perseus was coming back from his thoughts and saw and felt the Great One touching his head, writhing for some reason. He then noticed the presence in his mind, and put the pieces together. Either it was going through his mind, or it was attempting to understand what was going on. Great Ones are sympathetic is nature after all. Perseus could've easily taken this opportunity and got the upper hand in the fight, but he decided to wait and see what happened. If he felt he was in any danger he would not hesitate to attack, but a part of his mind was reminded of Artemis. Maybe it was the aura that this being gave off, or maybe it was just a connection to the moon, but he was unusually patient.

It took maybe thirty seconds but to the Moon Presence it felt all of Perseus's twenty years of living. It understood him perfectly, it understood why he did the things he did and it felt pity. Pure, unimaginable pity only capable of someone of a higher being to feel. It wanted to help this poor child. This child has endured enough to make a lesser man go insane five times over. It wanted to protect this child as if it were it's own, as all of it's other children had perished before taking their first breath. And so it backed out if his mind slowly, still afraid of retaliation and projected it's thoughts.

_"Perseus?" _The being asked, warily and, while not showing it, tensing it's body. Perseus, on the other hand, was boggled. It sounded like the doll was calling his name from right next to him, but he knew that to be impossible. The only answer left was...

"Did you just _speak_?" Perseus asked baffled.

_"Indeed young Hunter. I wish to discontinue this fight as once, both of us can go home peacefully, if you listen." _The Great One spoke gently and calmly, exactly the opposite of what Perseus expected from the being that was not minutes ago ready to tear into him.

"I'm listening, but if I do not like it and if you wish to continue this dream then my answer will undoubtably be no." Perseus replied, complying because he was out of blood vials, and had no idea how much strength this being of a higher power had.

_"I have seen the struggles you have been through, the beasts you have conquered, and I have no doubt that if this were to continue I would join their ranks. Once that happens, I also know that you would become one of the beasts you hate so much, and as such I have a proposition. I will discontinue this dream, and send you __back to your real world. If I were to do this, I would lose a vast amount of power and be left useless against the Great Ones that would not hesitate to crush one another for power. If I sent you back to your home world, then I would accompany you and you would protect me against the beasts and the Great Ones coming after me, and you." It laid out it's terms very carefully, letting him know both the risks and rewards, but also not telling him about the alternate decision that could be made. To continue the fighting._

Perseus thought about this very hard. On one hand he could go back, be rid of this horrible night, but on the other he had to protect a creature that made this entire thing happen. All these deaths, all Perseus's pain and fear and uncontrollable anger, and the creature that made it happen was right in front of him. He opened his mouth and said...


	2. Chapter2

Once Poseidon lit the pyre, it was like a switch was flipped. Everyone was in mourning as the Olympian's listed off the Hero's achievements, but now everyone seemed to be lively, of somber. If you looked you could spot the Seven together plus a few select others, reminiscing the good old days. Back when Piper wasn't expecting a child, when Leo would hit on every girl he saw, when Nico wasn't dating Will, etc etc. On the other side of the pavilion, the last of the gods were gathered speaking quietly. Is someone were to listen hard enough they could hear the phrases "Percy", and "too soon" being spoken quite often.

These gods were, Hestia, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, and Poseidon. Now most of these didn't shock anyone, but nobody had thought the Twin Archers were close to the lost hero at all. They weren't, mind you, but Poseidon hadn't looked to good after the pyre was first lit. Hestia stayed to comfort her brother, Hermes to mourn the hero who was like a second son to him once he lost his own. Apollo stayed because he genuinely likes Percy, and Artemis stayed because she thought she was also torn up a bit for the little godling. As they all conversed the rest of the gathered demigods spoke amongst themselves, went to bed, or waited for the little ones to go to bed so they could bring out some alcohol. Everyone knows that you're not supposed to have alcohol at camp, but the older campers such as Pollux and Connor simply did not care. They wanted to knock back a few drinks in memory of their dear friend, and if the gods punished them for that then so be it.

"Poseidon, you can't keep on like this. You're destroying coastal towns, and ships are practically nonexistent at this point. You have literally crippled a branch of the US military. I know you're grieving, but this has to stop. You're either going to kill more humans or yourself. It's only a matter of time." Hestia said gently, but also sternly to let him know Nice Hestia was no where to be found at the moment.

"I know Hestia, believe me Chaos, I know. It's just... I know he's not dead. I can feel it in my bones, but there's nothing I can do. He is somehow out of my reach and the only thing I can do is sit here and twiddle my damn thumbs!" Poseidon ended yelling, the emotions of the day having caught up to him for the third time today. Apollo came over and gave Poseidon a hug, the god of Truth knowing what was really wrong. Poseidon blames Percy's death on himself. He thinks that he should've done something, anything to help. But alas, there was nothing he could have done differently. Hestia, Hermes, and Artemis glanced around at each other, shrugged, and joined the hug.

"I accept your offer, on one condition if my own." Perseus said, and continued before this Great One could interrupt. "If you come with me, you have to promise me that you will not hurt my family or friends ever."

_"A small price to pay," _It said. It would never admit it but it was starting to feel a small sense of excitement. To have interactions that don't always deal with death, to experience those good emotions again.

"On with it."

_"Watch your tone human. I will not be so tolerant of such disrespect in the future." _It said. Perseus shrugged, and made a hand gesture to try to speed up the experience. The Great One sees this but does not comment, knowing it would be useless. First, It manifests the bulk of its power. It then expells it in a wave, not unlike one from the sea, and it wipes everything relating to the hunt, besides the place it is currently residing.

_"I will keep the dream open. I have faith that you are a capable warrior, but it would not do for my host to die when I am so weak." _It said and began to manifest the last remainder of it's power to transport them back to New York, Earth.

"That wasn't part of the deal, and what do you mean host? Hey, are you listening to me? Hey! Listen you damnab-" Perseus started before they were teleported. Back to Earth. _Back to home..._

The gods were all still hugging when Artemis felt a pain unlike any other. It felt as if her domains were being ripped from her. She could not control anything, the only thing she could do was fall to her knees and scream.

Immediately once Artemis screams, the moon starts a transformation. It gets closer and closer until it's practically day out. Then it started to change color. It faded from its silvery white, to a deep blood red, almost as if it were bleeding or alive. Artemis collapses onto the ground and starts spasming. Unconsciousness has yet to take her, but it would be preferable because she can not register anything other than the sheer, excruciating pain flowing through her entire being.

"Artemis? Hey, what's wrong? Artemis? Artemis, stay with me. You have to tell me what's wrong. Artemis. Artemis, gods damnit what's wrong!" Apollo starts quiet but by the end it shouting. Hermes puts a hand on his shoulder and motions to the crowd of demigods watching either the moon or him.

"Everyone, go back to your cabins," Hestia says doing a bit of crowd control,"This is just a malfunction of the mist. This will al be cleared up tomorrow, so go to sleep and get a good nights rest." She finished. Everyone started making their way back to their respective cabins, but everyone could hear the whispers and gossip going around. By now the moon was back into its original state, having only stayed this way for maybe twenty seconds.

"Hermes, help me bring Artemis to my temple. Hestia and Poseidon go call for a council meeting and fast. I don't know what this is, or how it happened but it can't be good." Apollo said, taking point on the situation. Poseidon and Hestia nod, and flash out to the Throne Room. Apollo signals for Hermes to grab onto her left shoulder, and they flash out. What they didn't happen to notice is that Artemis was coming to.

Poseidon and Hestia flash into the Throne Room, and right after them is Athena. Poseidon immediately throws his Trident into the center of the throne room signaling for a council. The rest of the gods slowly trickle in in about two minute, each flashing directly into their thrones with looks ranging from contempt to extreme bordome. Zeus was the last one to arrive, looking disheveled. Hera noticed this and glared daggers and him. Zeus noticed, had the decency to look away in shame, before clearing his throat and addressing the god who called the council.

"Poseidon, this better be good. Some of us have better things do to then to mope all day." Zeus said, while most of the council winced at the low blow.

"For your information Zeus, your daughter is currently in Apollo's temple suffering from an unknown disease or attack. So excuse me for worrying about your daughter while you were off fornicating with some woman you met on the street." Poseidon said back, also glaring at Zeus. Zeus looked shocked, before turning red in the face from his rage.

"Who dares attack an Olympian? We shall banish them to Tartarus for their crimes!" Zeus bellowed before looking around to see if anybody had any information. Hestia, who, while they were waiting, were speaking quietly, motioned for Athena to tell the council what was just told to her.

"I believe that Selene is coming back." Athena stated, not extremely confidently. The entire council erupts hearing that someone may be coming back from the Realm of the Faded.

"That's impossible!"

"She would never do that!"

"You can't come back once you've faded!"

"Why would she attack Artemis? We had nothing to do with her fading!"

It was the quietest question the shook the council. "Why now?" Poseidon asked. "Why not when we were fighting the Titans, or the Giants? Why on the day my son is declared dead, why on a day of mourning? It doesn't make any sense." This stopped everyone in their tracks as they tried to think of a logical answer. They say like this until Hermes flashed into the council, pale faced and panting.

"What is my daughters condition Hermes?" Zeus asked.

"She is insane. The pain drive her mad." Hermes says slowly, trying to catch his breath. And for the third time that day the council was stunned to silence.

"Take me to her!" Zeus demanded.

"Zeus calm do-" Hera says and is immediately cut off.

"CALM DOWN? I have just learned we are under attack from a faded titan, and now my daughter is insane! I will not calm down. Hermes take me to her RIGHT NOW!" Zeus screams. Even though he may not show it, Zeus is a very overprotective father. Hermes gets even paler, and they both flash to Apollo's temple.

"I am going to check on my niece, Dionysus you may be needed. Anybody else that wants to is willing to come, if not I declare the council dismissed." Poseidon say as he summons his trident. He flashes out immediately, not waiting to hear anybody else's opinion on the matter.

Hestia, Dionysus, and Athena all flash to Apollo's temple, everyone else leaves to do whatever it is they do in their free time. As Hestia arrives as the door to the room where Artemis is help she can hear giggling and sobbing.

"Artemis please listen to me. It's me, your brother. You know the annoying one who always hits in your hunters? The one you shoot arrows at all the time? Please just say something to let us know you're still there." Apollo begged, while Zeus was sitting in the bedside chair, crying. Poseidon was standing off to the side, remorse shown clearly in his facial expression. Athena barges in, and runs to her sisters side.

"Artemis? Are you there? Artemis listen to me? Do you remember anything?" Athena questioned, and all she got in response was a giggle. A high pitched giggle, as if coming from an 8 year old who has been possessed. But it's impossible for gods to get possessed, so it didn't make any sense in Athena's mind.

Zeus stood up the second he saw Dionysus and walked over to him.

"Please Dionysus, I know I haven't been the greatest father ever, but please try to help her. Please." Zeus begged even harder than Apollo, and was ready to prostrate himself if need be, but Dionysus has some sense of morals because he agreed right away.

Dionysus walked up to the poor girl, and put his hand on either side of her temples. He stood there concentrating for about five minutes, before he stepped back breathing heavy.

"I can't cure her, I'm sorry. The best I can do is clear her brain for a few seconds before it gets foggy again." Dionysus said sadly, the weight of the day finally getting to even the drunk.

"Gods damnit!" Apollo and Zeus said at the same time, before breaking down together. Hugging each other, like they're the only family they have left. Poseidon looked down in shame, no doubt somehow blaming himself for this. Hestia could feel the Hearth get colder, could feel the hope lowering. Athena just sat there thinking the entire time. Suddenly her head shot up, and she looked directly at the Wine God.

"Dionysus can you clear her mind for me quick? I just want to ask her one question." She pleaded. Dionysus gave a heavy sigh, and replaced his hands on her temple and concentrated. He gave a subtle nod of his head when he was sure he had cleared her mind.

"Artemis who did this to you?" Athena asked quickly. Unfortunately she wasn't quick enough because all she got in response were giggles and a little twitching here and there.

"So it's hopele-" Dionysus started before he was cut off by a voice not heard yet.

"Ohhhhhhh Percyyyyyyy, where are youuuuuu?" Artemis called out with a stupid smile on her face. "I'm waiting for you to come saaaaaaave meeee. You better hurry because I don't know how long I'll laaaaasstttttt." Everyone shivered as they heard this, the tone she said it in was as if she was singing a song horribly off key. One thing stood out though. She called for Percy.

Perseus has to bit his lip hard enough to bleed to control his urge. His urge to slaughter every single one of the beasts. He knew that's what they're going to turn into. He knows because he's lived through it. He also realizes that he is back home, and the beast blood hasn't been introduced yet.

_"These are people. They have no beast blood in them. These are people. They have no beast blood in them." _This is the mantra Perseus had to repeat in his mind, he needed to get out of there, needed to get somewhere secluded where he can gather his thoughts.

_"Oh Percy, I need you help," _The Great One spoke in a singsong tone, sending shivers down his spine.

"How are you speaking to me right now? And where did you go?" Percy asked out loud, getting a couple weird looks from bystanders. '_These are people. They have no beast blood in them.'_

"_I'm a great one, duhhhhh. I'm at the big shiny place in the clouds." _It responded like an eight year old, which was worrisome for Perseus. He really didn't want to deal with an all powerful eight year old Great One.

"Stay there, don't move, don't talk to anyone. Got it?" Perseus said sharply, once again getting weird looks from people standing next to him.

_"Yes sir!" _It said back, as if it were talking to a Drill Sergeant.

'_Just another day is Kos damned paradise.' _Perseus thought as he called a taxi.

Percy got to the Empire State Building at around One o'clock, an entire hour after the pyre burning. He walked straight up to the man behind the desk.

"Key to the five hundredth floor." Perseus demanded.

"No such thing, sorry k-" Perseus cut him off with a flintlock to the head.

"Now." The man scrambled for the key, dunking with it before Perseus had enough and yanked it out of his hands. He holstered his pistol, and walked into the elevator. He was not looking forward to greeting the people who left him to rot. The people who he saved and they didn't even bother to look. The more Perseus thought about it the angrier he got.

_'This gods damn Great One, and my damnable pride. Should've killed the beast while I had the chance, now I'm stuck babysitting it.' _Perseus ranted to himself, angry at everything and anything.

The elevator dinged letting him know he was at his destination and he stepped out. Normally the view would amaze him, as it did every time he has been up here before, but now it just reminded him of the kind of deserters the gods were.

"Great One where are you? Is there any more detail you can give me beside shiny place in the fucking sky?" Perseus asked sharply, the irritation of having to come up here boiling over.

_"I'm at the really shiny place with a guy called Zoos, he and another guy called dyeOnyesis were just here."_

_'This Great One is going to be the death of me.'_ Perseus thought as he began to sprint to Apollo's temple.

_'If both Zeus and Dionysus are there, it's probably an interrogation. If it says anything about me, I will rip each and every tentacle it has off one by one.'_ Perseus imagined it, the feeling of euphoria as he gained insurmountable blood echoes, the feeling of the Hunt tenfold. He could only smirk and hope, but he had to get there first. Preferably hitting as few nymphs and satyrs as possible, but hitting the most minor gods as possible.

As Perseus came up to the Golden Temple he slowed down and went through his game plan.

_'Go in, explain why there is a literal monster capable of human speech and has ten fold their power. Should be easy enough.'_

Perseus strolled up to the door and gave it a large resounding knock he perfected in Yarhnam. Seconds later Apollo opened the door, looking like he just cried enough to flood the Amazon.

"We are closed right now, unless it's an emergency leave." Apollo said gruffly.

"Oh it's an emergency alright. Not for me though, it's who I'm here to pick up is gonna have an emergency." Perseus replied.

"Well we only have one patient at the moment, and I doubt you're going to be picking her up any time soon. So. Leave. Now." Apollo said as he tried to close the door. Perseus wasn't having any of that though, as he stuck his foot in the dirt to prevent it from getting shut.

"If there's nobody else in there then who else would I be coming to pick up? Bring me to it." Perseus said darkly, hand reaching for his pistol.

"I won't let you anywhere near my baby sister while she's in this state! Now I'm going to give you until the count of five to leave or I will vaporize you." Apollo snapped back, while holding up his hand with all five fingers up. Meanwhile Perseus is thinking as hard as he could about why Artemis would be here when the Great One said she was here. Apollo could be lying, but that's unlikely. He's the goid if truth and all. And then it hits him.

"Oh you have got to be FUCKING joking right now. Of all the damn people in the world you choose Artemis? My life is just a game to you date huh? Yeah well guess what. I'm done. I'm done doing whatever you want me to." Perseus shouts at the sky, before turning to Apollo who currently has a two fingers up. "I know what's wrong with Artemis."

"Oh I'm sure you do. And I'm the god of Darkness." Apollo said sarcastically before he started to glow a little.

"Fine, I don't care if you have to kill your sister because she is insane. I won't bother me when you have the blood of your twin on your hands because you turned away her only hope. When you kill her, I will gladly announce that I had the means to save her, but your hubris got in the way and she's dead. You want that?" Perseus spike sardonically, feeling like he's got a foot hold in the argument now.

"Fine, but I'll have dad keep a close eye on you. I have to stay here and wait for Percy to come, if he's even alive." Apollo said that last part under his breath, but let Perseus in anyways. "Room 106, first hallway, third door on the right." Apollo said, and sat down in a chair to wait for the man that was already here.

As Perseus walked he couldn't help but crack a smile at how stupid Apollo is. Perseus reaches the third door on the right and opens it without hesitation. There lays Artemis with a stupid smile on her face looking directly at him, in her seven year old form.

"There you are Percyyy," 'Artemis' said, getting out of her bed and running forwards him. Perseus prepared to get hit, but instead he got a hug. To say he was surprised would be an understatement to say the least. She then looked straight into his eyes and said, "I never realized how pretty your eyes were Percyyy."

Zeus, who had just been sleeping next to Artemis's bed, had woken up to the strangest sight of all time. His daughter, the man hater, the eternal virgin, was hugging a male and saying his eyes were pretty. He wiped his eyes once to make sure he was awake, and sure enough there she was hugging that man.

"What, exactly, are you doing Artemis?" Perseus asked, before the shock of a seven year old god hugging him wore off. "Oh that's right, you're quite possibly the dumbest Great One I've ever met. How did you manage this?" Persues asked, throwing an insult in there to see if any part of Artemis was awake at the moment.

"Well you know how I got us here right? I used the moon." Little Artemis said with a skin splitting smile. "But I wasn't thinking and I forgot that there was a diety here that is represented by the moon. I am represented by the moon too, so I had two choices. Back out of it, or assimilate. And we're both here so I think you know what that means!" Artemis squealed, "We get to have fun! We can go talk to people, we can play games, we can read, we can do a bunch of human stuff. And once I get this body under control we can fornicate too!" The Great One said excitedly, before she started having spasms.

"Can someone please explain what is going on here? And you will not touch my daughter, ever!" Zeus said irritability, understandably so.

"Well, I think little Artemis just did it for us," Perseus said, before taking off his tricone hat and lowering his face mask. "One helluva welcome home party huh?" Perseus said. Zeus stood there in shock, until Artemis tackled Perseus and held him at knife point. She has morphed into her 18 year old form so she could have a fair chance at taking Perseus down.

"What did you do to me!" Big Artemis shouted at him, before she went into a spasm again, but she didn't change form. "Whoever is in my head get out now!" Artemis demanded, and the Great One decided that it had enough fun for a while and tried to mimic Artemis's looks as it had no other reference to go off of. It worked surprisingly well, as now there was a 7 year old Artemis lookalike and an 18 year old Artemis currently straddling Perseus.

"Hi Percyyyyyyyy!" The Great One cooed before it jumped onto Perseus too. The sight of his daughter straddling a man, combined with the fact that she had an entire person inside of her mind was too much for Zeus, and he passed out.


	3. Chapter3

To say Artemis was pissed would be the understatement of the century. First she is comforting her uncle who lost his son, then she has the worst pain she ever felt hit her, then she wakes up and she's a prisoner in her own damn mind! Then whoever was controlling her started to talk about doing lewd things, and that crossed the line for Artemis. She wrestled for control harder than she ever has before. Once she has the thing locked down in her mind, she attacks a man that looks vaguely familiar. And after all that, the thing that was controlling her copied her looks and both of them were straddling said man.

"Oh, oh, oh, Percy, Percy, Percy can we go get some ambrosia and some nectar? Can we go try some ga-" The imposter was cut off by the man, no way that is Perseus. She took one second to take a good look at this man. He had a sharp jawline, black messy hair, sea green eyes, was 6'5", and had scars lifted his body. She could only see his face but it was criss crossed with so many scars that it looked like he got out from inside of a blender.

_"No, this can't be Percy. No person can get that many scars in a year and still be alive today. There is just no way that's physically possible."_ Artemis thought to herself before focusing back in on the conversation.

"-ah Great One is such a mouthful, and I can't exactly go around calling you little Arty now can I?" Although the question was directed towards this 'Great One' Artemis answered anyways.

"No you can not, not can you call me Arty either. I will neuter you and feed it to the wild animals if you so much as think of it." Artemis said resolutely, only to get shocked by the little ones response.

"Hey that's not nice! He is just trying to make you feel special!" Little Artemis said, not knowing fully what she said. Both of the awake adults blushed and forced it down quickly but for different reasons. Artemis because she will not, cannot feel anything more than respect for a male, especially one she's only met once. Perseus because he could never feel anything like that again. After what happened with Gascoigne's daughter, Simon, and all his friends here. Those memories of heartbreak, feeling every little crack, was about enough to make him go mad. If it weren't for the doll, he would have gone to the Hunter's Nightmare not as a visitor but as a resident.

"How about Viola?" Perseus says, thinking about Gascoigne's wife, completely ignoring the Goddess that was fuming next to him.

"No I don't like it." The youngest in the room said.

"I don't care what your name is, just stay away from me and my brain. Now I am going to report directly to the council about all of this and you better show up. Otherwise, we'll let's just say that my wolves are pretty hungry right about now." Artemis said with a sly smirk, thinking she won.

"Nah, I'm good. How about you Unnamed one?" Perseus said, while throwing in a little jab.

"Hey! I'm not unnamed, I'm naming in progress!" Unnamed said, pouting. "And I don't wanna go to that council thingy. It sounds boring."

"Well there you have it Artemis. You're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand you can either tell the council everything you learned here, and you can have them be skeptical at best, or you can just hold onto this and forget about it. Now that Unnamed here is under control I think we should be fine. We bother you again fell free to hunt us all you like." Perseus said, putting his hat back on and pulling up his mask to hide his smirk. As if she could hunt him, she might be the goddess of the Hunt but Perseus was The Hunter. She was outmatched and she doesn't even know it.

"As if I'm going to let you go boy, you're staying right here until the council decides your fate. If you leave you will be hunted for eternity." Artemis once again has her smug smirk plastered on her face. Perseus just shrugged as if to say 'ok'.

Artemis then took one more look at her dad, and woke him up.

"Father would you like to summon the council to have these two tried for attacking an Olympian or would you like me to?" Artemis asked, happy with either.

"You go, daughter. I need some time to recuperate." Zeus said, still out of it. Artemis shrugged and flashed out leaving Perseus, a Great One, and a dazed Zeus in a hospital room.

"Well as much fun as going to another one of those sounds, I am going to have to pass. How about you oh mighty Great One?" Perseus says, then scolds himself. He cannot get attached to it, or Artemis, or anything. Those things only get you killed during the hunt.

"Wherever you go I go Percy." It replied, smiling wide.

"Well let's get out of here then. You want to go swimming?" Perseus asked as he holds out a piece of cloth to Unnamed, and puts another in his other hand.

"No, the sea is where all Great zones reside silly," she replied and help the sloth up to her face and became vapor. Perseus just sighed and followed her.

Meanwhile Zeus is mind boggled. First, that thing attacks his daughter and controls her mind. Then an impersonator of his nephew barges in and tells a bizaar cover story, and leaves by some sort of travel exclusive to him, and people he allows. Zeus was supposed to keep them here, yet how was he to do that without his weapon and concussed? He flashed off to the council to let them know of the events the just occurred.

Meanwhile with Perseus and Unnamed...

"What are we doing here? It seems kinda run down." Unnamed says dissatisfaction dripping from her voice. When Percy said he'd take her somewhere safe she expected a castle, or maybe a house with that wasnt in the edge of the Great Ones boundaries.

"This is where we are going to stay, and it's not run down. It's a fixer upper." Persues said with some steel in his voice. Hearing this place get insulted did not sit well with him, no matter who did it. This is the only place he felt free as a child. The old cabin in Mantauk.

"Come on, I'll show you around." Percy said, and starts walking in. Unnamed follows closely behind, this seven year old form not being nearly as much fun as she imagined. Perseus showed her where the bedroom, kitchen, and dining rooms were. He then pulls out two blankets and two pillows and headed back to the bedroom, getting ready to go to bed. Unnamed follows him, and climbs into the other bed, but sleep is a concept it has never considered. She didn't know the first thing about it, so she decides to ask Percy.

_"Hopefully he won't get too mad," _she thought as she turn to face him across the room.

"Hey Percy?" She whispers,"Are you awake?"

"Yes, what is it?" He replied coldly, but that doesn't bother her.

"How do you sleep?" Percy let out a big groan at that question.

"You close your eyes and relax. Try it." He basically demanded, and so she did. She tried for a couple minutes and got bored.

"Hey Percy?"

"What?"

"Why do you go to sleep?" She asked inquisitively.

"To be honest I don't know, but I know that if you keep talking I won't be getting any anyways." He replies with an edge in his voice. This doesn't make a difference to Unnamed.

"Percy?"

"Oh my gods, if this isn't an important question I won't hesitate to make it so you can't talk." Perseus said, his nerves wearing thin.

"Can I have a name?"

"Well I've been trying but I keep getting interrupted or shot down so I apologize for not willing to give it my all."

"Oh, ok." An awkward silence followed as Unnamed tries to think of a good name. Perseus is doing the same, but his vocabulary with names is far more vast.

"What about Star?"

"No, that sounds like a little girl name." Unnamed said, forgetting she was still in a seven year old form.

Perseus noticed but decided not to comment, opting to think of more names.

"Silena?"

"No."

"Zoe?"

"No thank you."

And so it went on like that for a good hour before Percy asked a question he had been thinking of for a while.

"Hey, you're still a Great One right?"

"Yes..." It answered back slowly, not seeing where this was going.

"You created the Hunt right? You saw all my memories and all the things that happened during that hunt and my life here?" Percy kept on, deciding that his curiousity was more important than his sleep.

"Yes, yes and yes. I created the hunt for my own entertainment. I may have seen all of your memories, but to me it was a blast of feelings, I couldn't have time to comprehend any of it." It replied, still unaware of why this conversation was happening.

"How can you be so happy? I haven't seen you show an emotion other than glee since you got here. " Percy finally asked, after the question had been on his mind all day. It looked confused before he elaborated,"I went through that Hunt and... how do you live with knowing that those were all people once? That they had lives and families? Knowing that these beasts that hunt and kill every living thing in sight, were once just like me?" Percy asked quietly, letting free an emotion he hasn't shown to another sane person in quite a while. Guilt. Soul crushing, unbearable guilt.

"I don't care." It said casually, not realizing the inner turmoil Perseus was going through. This was a big mistake though, as Perseus was not in complete control of his emotions. This lead to an outburst that attracted the attention of the oldest Goddess.

"You don't care?" Perseus asked quietly, but in a predatory way, that reminded the Great One who it was dealing with. The greatest Hunter, one who was destined to become a Great One himself. "All those people dead and you simply do not care? I really do know why I am surprised, really I don't. I knew all along during the Hunt that I had to kill those people to survive myself, to rid Yarhnam of the scourge was my goal. I promised Eileen I would, I promised Simon I would, and look where I am now? Sharing a room with the creator of the Kos damned Hunt. You, YOU are the reason I am put through countless terrors, even now! YOU are the reason that those people died, YOU are the reason I am not allowed sleep, not allowed food nor drink, not allowed to have anything good in my life! You are the reason the only thing I remember from before the Hunt is my name, my family, and that they left me. You are the reason I can hear them inside my head. Telling me to turn you into a paste while you're weak. Telling me to end their eternal suffering, telling me to kill myself just to make their torment end." Perseus exploded, and finally quieted his own voice so that he could barely be heard across the room. The Great zone finally realized The Hunter's inner turmoil and scrambled to recover.

"You misunderstand me," it said frantically while holding its hands over its head as Perseus approached, a glint in his eye. "I do not mean to say that their lives mean nothing to me, it's just that they were nothing but insects to me!" Seeing the furious face of The Hunter get closer, It backpedaled again and tried a different tactic.

"It was so I could birth a living child." It said, tears in It's eyes. It was painful, every child being stillborn. The Great One only had 1/2 of a genetic code to give to a child, and would not even think about mating with a human of Great One. This caused all of It's children to be born pale, cold, and unbreathing.

Perseus stopped in his tracks, feet away from the Great One. That was a plight he understood. Such was his dream, unfortunately. To have a child of his own, to raise them right. He knew he couldn't though, he would not endanger a mortal by falling in love, and the child would be too dangerous if born from a goddess or demigoddess.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." It said as It curled up into a ball and cried. It wept for the children It lost, the lives It had taken, and for the Demigod that had promised to protect It.

Perseus was also crying, for similar reasons. He cried because of the friends that fell along the way, the Hunters that had failed in their mission, and the Great Ones who had been slighted yet refused to end Humanity. Perseus had seen the Great One in the form of a young girl crying, and he went over to comfort It. He laid down next to it and wrapped his arms around her. It turned around and threw It's arms around him, progressing from crying to bawling.

It had no idea why this was happening, why It was feeling all these negative emotions. It had never experienced this before. It looked to the closest thing for comfort and found this beaten down young man wrapping her in a hug, and the flood gates broke loose.

They both cried until they fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms like siblings. they were so focused on their respective emotions that they couldn't have sensed the Eldest Goddess if they tried.

Hestia was at her wits end. Between keeping peace on the council, or helping Artemis, or even this new Prince of the Sea. She sensed it the second she flashed into the room where he was supposed to be kept sealed. There's a lot of issues with this theory. First of all, Poseidon would have had to break his oath after Percy, which Hestia knew wasn't true. The second is that this demigod is more powerful than she or anyone expected. He simply left, under Zeus's supervision, which Hestia was unhappy with. He also takes the thing that attacked Artemis, which means he's a traitor as well.

_'Just another day on Olympus"_ Hestia thought bitterly, from her Hearth. Everyone was on edge after this attack, and the Hearth was reflected that. It was a small bonfire, with Kronos's scythe laid rest in the form of Backbiter through the center of the fire.

The Hearth gradually got colder and colder though, within a ten minute span the Hearth has gone from warm to room temperature. This was an abnormal spike in hope. This wasn't completely unexpected to Hestia though, she figured it had to do with Perseus's funeral. So she ignored it, but it kept getting colder. This meant that a deity was losing an abnormal amount of hope in one sitting, and although Hestia was currently unhappy with the Olympians she wasn't one to let her family wallow in their sorrows, if it can be helped.

So when Hestia locates the source, she was surprised to find that they were in the cabin the Poseidon granted to his mortal lover. This place was unreachable unless either Poseidon, his lover, or Percy led them there.

After a quick mental debate, Hestia decided she would check it out. Although she would be cautious, finding her brother having mindless sex to rid him of the sorrows of the day was not on her bucket list.

She flashed outside of the house and slowly crept in, being careful to avoid creaky floorboards. Just as she was about to enter the door the entity was behind, she heard someone shout.

"You, YOU are the reason I am put through countless terrors, even now! YOU are the reason that those people died, YOU are the reason I am not allowed sleep, not allowed food nor drink, not allowed to have anything good in my life!" Was what Hestia heard, and was instantly on guard. She sensed the man who freed Artemis's attacker. She was torn between wanting to hear him out, or attack him before he gets away and another chance to attack an Olympian.

"Telling me to end their eternal suffering, telling me to kill myself just to make their torment end." The man said as Hestia listened in again. What happened next stunned her to the bone.

She listened to Artemis talk to this man about what Hestia presumed as monsters, until she said something that sounded so defeated and longingly that Hestia doubted if Artemis would ever admit what she has denied for so long.

"It was all so I could birth a loving child." Hestia was now extremely suspicious of this man. He must've made Artemis drink a truth potion from Hecate's store.

_"He must have. There is no way Artemis would tell her attackers accomplice she would not admit to me or Athena willingly. This must stop immediately." _Hestia thought grimly, and pushed the door in slowly, as to not make any noise, and was not longer as angry, but much more confused than she had ever been. Here was Artemis in her seven year old form, laid in a ball sobbing, and the Attacker's accomplice was also crying. The man in question was, at first glance, Percy Jackson. The missing Hero. But the longer she looked at him, the more she took in the minute details, such as the scars littered on his face, the way his eyes held no shine, and the way he held himself. Percy always held his head high, and this man walked like he was sick of life at the age of 20.

Luckily, the two were faced away from the door, as this allowed Hestia to sneak behind the opened door and watch from cover. She walked as this man walked over to her niece. She would have readied her weapon were in not for the fact that he had not drawn his. She watched as he laid down next to her. Now Hestia readied Backbiter, ready time strike if this man decided he wanted a shot at a Maiden Goddess. She was proved right and wrong when he hugged Artemis. It was awkard hug that can only happen if one person isn't participating in the hug. Hestia's mind was ready to explode when Artemis threw her arms around him, and cried even harder. Through the sobs, Hestia could make out, "I'm sorry..." before the crying started to lessen, and was replaced by a slight snoring.

The man did nothing though, made no move on the obviously vulnerable Goddess, and instead untangled himself from her arms, and turned the other way to attempt to get some sleep. Sleep found him rather quickly, as was to be expected.

**Hey guys, thank you all for reading this story. Listen, I'll try to keep this short. I apologize if any of you don't like the way Percy and The Great One react to each other, or think it's OOC. I am not that great at writing character interactions, but I want The Great One to be a burden to Percy. I don't want him to like having her along, and I also don't want to write him as completely cold hearted. Of course, Bloodborne would make anyone go mad by living it, but I like to think that Percy is somewhat accustomed to what's in Yarhnam. What with the two wars that he fought, he would be accustomed to death. **

**Secondly, I need a name for the Moon Presence bad. Leave a review with the name you think SHE should have, and I'll read through them and pick the one I like most. I'll throw in a shoutout as a reward, though it doesn't mean much from someone as small as me. **

**Duces guys. **


	4. Chapter4

Hestia, although still shocked that Artemis talked to this man about her feelings let alone hug her, knew an opportunity when she saw one. She was going to kill this man for drugging her niece, and after she was done with the dirty work she would take Artemis up to Olympus for the second time today.

Hestia slowly sneaked her way towards the man, but stopped when she heard him mumbling,"...Gascoigne... ...Viola... ...Simon... ...Simon!" He started quiet and got gradually louder until he was practically screaming this persons name. He sounded pained, like he was getting slashed across the chest with a knife.

"...Brador..." The man's tone changed in a heartbeat. He practically growled it out, enough so that Hestia was even feeling the bloodlust that came from the single name. Deciding enough was enough and that she better get it done before he wakes up, she walked as quietly as she could up to the man and poised her blade.

_"Is this truly what I have become? Killing a man whose face is covered in scars, has obvious PTSD and possibly night terrors, because he comforted my niece?" _Hestia thought to herself, disgusted with herself. Hestia always valued her empathy above all else, and here she was about to kill a man who had been on the run.

_"Judging from the scars, and the intensity, these have all happened in two years. That's impossible, so many fatal injuries in two years would kill even a god." _Hestia thought to herself, her sword still hovering over the mans body. Unfortunately for her, Artemis woke up. Hestia noticed the silver eyes on her immediately, and taking one hand off her sword, put a finger to her lips and blew out gently. Artemis was still under the drug, it seemed, because she cocked her head to the side confused, like a puppy.

She then, ignoring Hestia's obvious and growing louder objections, tapped the man on the shoulder. The second she did so, Hestia was on the ground with Backbiter a millimeter away from cutting into her. She looked up, to meet her killers eyes before he sent her to Tartarus. What she saw was the visage of a man going through a battle in his mind. What the battle was about is pretty obvious.

_"To kill me, or not to. That is the question,"_ Hestia thought mournfully to herself before glaring at Artemis. Why had she disturbed the man, who had obviously drugged her? This entire thing made no sense to Hestia. She came her hoping not to find her brother having sex, but instead finds her niece drugged, crying, and accepting a mans comfort.

Meanwhile Perseus was not in a battle, more of a war in his head. One part of him screamed to kill this goddess who had tried to attack him dishonorably, and without giving him a chance to defend himself. This part was the piece of the Hunt he would have forever. The echoes of the beasts he had slain, his friends that he had to kill in order to free them. This side of Perseus was the side that Perseus showed all during the Hunt, up until he had ran into the Moon Presence.

The other side was screaming equally loud to spare her, Hestia had done nothing wrong to him in the past. She had actually helped him, which can't be said for a lot of the gods he saved. She had provided for a good confidante whenever he had night terrors about Tartarus. That this was all a misunderstanding and that he should hear her out before he makes any bad decisions. This side was the side Percy had shown when at Camp Half Blood, doing quests, goofing off, and generally enjoying his already ruined childhood.

Eventually, after about thirty seconds of indecision, he lifted the sword that had caused him all sorts of agony in his childhood a few inches from Hestia's shocked face and said one word.

"Explain."

As soon as Hestia heard him, she knew she was in for a world of hurt, but decided that she would get out of this. Olympus could not go without the Hearth goddess.

"I felt a sharp decline of hope here, and seeing as everyone in my family is mourning I thought I would be a good sister and comfort them. When I got here, I heard shouting an-"

"Lie. Please, if you want to keep your head, start speaking the truth." Perseus cut her off by pushing the sword against her throat the second she started to half lie, and she was impressed yet wary. Anyone that could detect a lie that quick was well versed in either conversation or interrogation. Neither of these options did Hestia's mood any favors as she huffed.

"I crept into the cabin hoping to find my brother grieving, and hopefully not having sex with a mortal. Instead I hear someone shouting, and I crept to investigate. I thought maybe my brothe-"

"Lie. Strike two Hestia. If I were anyone else, your head would be rolling on the ground before you could take a breath. So please, for both our sakes, start telling the entire truth." Perseus said calmly, though on the inside he was in turmoil. The two sides of Perseus clashing yet again, shouting at each other that _'Killing Hestia would make us no better than what we hunt'_ and _'She attacked us first, kill this bitch'. _

_"_I came to investigate because I sensed you from before where Artemis was being treated. Artemis calls an emergency council, talking about how she was abducted by a being that could kill her in a record time. So when I sensed you here yelling at someone, I crept closer to gain some context. Then I hear my niece, who I will remind you is a maiden goddess, tell this man that she wants a child. Then I see the male hug her, and she doesn't pull away. She returns it! So if you would, _please_ explain who you are and why she seems to trust you more than me." Hestia finished her rant, breathing heavily. She had no idea that when she came to comfort her brother she would instead find one of his sons comforting her niece who has rejected all males before him. The best even Orion got was a pat on the shoulder for good shooting.

After she finished her tangent, Hestia looked at Artemis pleadingly expecting at least a reaction out of her. Hestia got nothing from Artemis, the man on the other hand...

"My name is Hunter and I never attacked Artemis. I actually cured her, horrible migraine." 'Hunter' said casually, as if talking down to her. Now Hestia didn't have as big an ego as the other Olympians, but she wasn't the eldest goddess for nothing.

Hestia flared her power for about a half a second to remind him who he was dealing with. Instead of flinching, like she expected, he stood still completely unaffected.

"Was that meant to... intimidate me?" Hunter asked, his complete uninterest showing clear as day in his tone of voice.

"Just what are you?" Hestia asked, terrified. Even Kronos had been a little intimidated by her power though she rarely shows it.

"I am a Hunter. The Good Hunter at one point, but now I am just a Hunter. I know that this whole situation is beyond fucked up, but please. I don't want to kill you. I don't want to rape Artemis. I don't want to go anywhere near Artemis actually," Hunter said while subconsciously closing his legs a little bit at the thought of approaching the goddess of the Hunt.

"Then who is that?" Hestia asked, a little off put by the way his tone changed again. He was now a little more relaxed, his grip on the sword slipping a little. Hestia noticed but knew if she took her opportunity now she would be bested again. It is a better move to bide her time and wait for 'Hunter' to become distracted. Which shouldn't be too long, he is a demigod after all. At least that's what Hestia thought.

"That is... shit. We forgot to give you a name. Whatever, Hestia this is a Great One. Great One this is Hestia." Perseus's mood was ever shifting, now settling on welcoming and friendly.

The Great One was taken aback by this sudden shift too, but decided to introduce itself formally.

"Hello Goddess of the Hearth, I am also a being of great power. My title is Moon Presence." It said cordially. Hestia started to put the pieces together, but as she was thinking the now proclaimed 'Moon Presence' was impatient, the seven year old form It was using was influencing her mood greatly.

"You're the one that attacked Artemis, aren't you?" Hestia asked, completely forgetting that Hunter had her sword at her neck. She went to move forward, summoning her powers before she was reminded of that fact very quickly.

"No! I mean yes, but no! I did, but I didn't want to!" Moon Presence fought to get out of the pit that she had dug the second she got into this world. Perseus just sighed, aware that It was doing them no favors, and spoke instead.

"What It means is that it was unintentional. It used too much power transporting us, so It was forced into taking up a host to regain enough power to form It's own body. As you can see, It is here and Artemis is off somewhere, doing something or other." Hunter replied, doing far more than Moon Presence to gain any ground with the goddess.

Hestia, through all of that confusing mess, caught onto a little detail that seemed obvious when you noticed. "Why do you refer to her as an It? She's obviously a little girl." Hestia asked, genuinely curious. Much can be said about Hestia and her lack of action on the council, but her attention to detail was spot on always.

"I am a girl! But he refuses to believe me!" Moon Presence said, taking a shot at Hunter. He just stared at her for a second, before sighing.

"You never told me you had a gender." Hunter said exasperated, despite being awake for maybe five minutes he was already tired. He was tired of this goddess he thought was a friend, he was tired of dealing with Moon Presence, and he was just plain tired.

"I implied it when I said I wanted to birth a child!" The now identified _she_ retorted quickly, feeling blood rush to her face. She briefly wondered why this happened, before pushing it aside for a bigger issue. Who currently had a sword to the goddess's neck.

"I think you can let her go now Percy." Moon Presence said, not realizing her slip up. Hestia gasped, and Perseus sighed. Opposite reactions for what should be considered a good thing for both sides.

"...Percy? Percy Jackson?" Hestia asked Moon Presence slowly, making sure to iterate the _Jackson _part. 'Hunter' meanwhile was trying his hardest to control his violent side.

_"That bitch just sold us out! She just told Hestia that you're Percy Jackson! Kill her! Smear her guts onto the ground! Leave her as nothing but a splatter on the wall to clean up!"_ Perseus's mind was fighting itself and was losing. Ironic as it may be, he was losing himself to the bloodlust that he came here to avoid. Perseus might have thought he did a good job hiding it, but the anguish he was tolerating was plain as day to the goddess.

Hestia remembered the Iris calls he sent her, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed about not wanting to kill his friends. She remembered how he would break down, how even the best hero the world has ever seen, could be so Hestia was lost in the moment, as was Perseus. Such was the torture he was put through in Tartarus.

Hestia slowly rose from her knees, despite the blade still hung loosely at her throat, and grabbed Percy in a hug. She thought that it would maybe help dissolve his anger. Hestia didn't know what this hero had gone through in those two years he was gone, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to make up the lost time.

"I missed you Percy." Hestia said softly, tears leaking out of her eyes as she squeezed him tighter, making sure he was really there.

Perseus was taken off guard, broken away from the war inside his mind. He never expected he had made such a big impact in the goddess's life. This made little difference in the war being fought out of sight but completely in mind.

"Let go of me." Perseus said darkly, showing which side of the war won. Hestia, not eager to fight the Hero of Olympus who had been pronounced dead a few hours ago, let go reluctantly. She truly had missed him, and wished that he would feel similarily. Even the goddess of Hope cannot help but be hurt when they were so blatantly not, with the man still holding her sword at his side looking ready to use it at any moment.

"What happened Percy? How did you get these scars? Where did the shine in your eyes go?" Hestia asked, genuinely curious and worried. All she got in response was a glare at the Great One, and a look of remorse from said Great One.

"You caused this?" Hestia turned toward the Great One as she said this, the familiar sense of rage from before bearing its ugly head. Flourishing her power again, she was ready to attack this being, confident that if a battle broke out the Olympians would take notice.

"Hestia. Enough." Perseus said, not pleased with the glare Hestia was sending the Great One's way. Although he resented it, he gave his word to protect the 'Moon Presence'. Loathe it as he may, if a Hunter does not keep his word, how can the people expect the Hunter's to come and take out the beasts? The Hunter's would, of course. The Beastblood and the bloodlust brings too much for the average Hunter to handle for more than a couple days.

"But Percy sh-" Hestia hated getting cut off and it seemed to happen more the last hour than in the last century.

"Please, go. I do not want to fight you, but if you insist on fighting the Great One under my protection then I shall have no choice." Perseus said, conviction flowing through his voice. Hestia was having none of it though, as she just corrected her posture and held her head high.

"No."

"No?"

"I will not leave you alone with this thing. I just got you back, and I will not run the risk of losing you again. I'm staying right here." Hestia said, and equal amount of conviction in her voice as Perseus's.

He couldn't help the sigh that came from his mouth, or the involuntary rubbing of the nose of his bridge. He was really tired, and did not have the time or willpower to sit on a stand-off for the rest of the night.

"So be it. I am going to sleep. Wake me if you need me or the sun rises. If it's not for those two reasons, then I will not hesitate to kill you. Either of you." He spoke, not only to Hestia but to the Great One as well as he turned his glare on both of them. The two beings shivered as the glare was turned between them, and let out a breath they didn't know they were holding when he turned away and walked to the other bed.

"You can join me if you want..." The Great One said shyly, as she slid over a little bit. The response she got was a cold stare, before Hestia walked over to a corner of the room and started a small fire. She curled up around it, and looked to have fallen asleep.

The Great One was feeling these negative emotions again, and started to cry silently. What she did to hurt this little goddess, she did not know. She closed her eyes, and sleep took her quickly.

Perseus watched the interaction between the two on his bed before he turned over and drifted into Morpheus's realm as well.

Hestia, on the other hand, did not fall asleep easily. She tossed and turned, cold on one side and hot on the other. She had no blanket and no pillow, and though she could climb into a bed with one of the other two occupants, she would have to be put through a lot worse. The idea kept nagging at her, slowly eating away her resolve and willpower until finally she made up her mind.

Hestia slowly stood up from the fire, and walked over as quietly as she could to Perseus's bed. She attempted to tap him on the shoulder to ask if she could lay with him, the thought making her blush involuntarily. Before she could even touch him, his hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"No." She heard him whisper, and felt herself deflate. She would rather be caught dead then lay next to the Great One. She was out of options though, so she grudgingly walked across the room and tapped on the Great One's shoulder. Nothing. Hestia then tried tapping harder. Nothing again. She was growing impatient and cranky from the cold and having to assault this little girl to ask if she could lay next to her did not help her mood.

Finally Hestia decided to lay next to her anyways, damn the consequences. As she lowered the blanket onto herself she felt It's arms tug Hestia towards it. She shook the arms off though, and drifted to sleep much more content. She would be mortified when she woke up in the morning and she found herself cuddled next to the Great One, embracing it as if it were her sister.

**Hey guys, thanks for checking out this new chapter as well. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes or misspelling here or there. Regarding the reviews, I know the Moon Presence's name is Flora, but I never liked the name. It never seemed fitting to me, for some reason or other. Speaking of which, I have picked out a name and it will be introduced sometime in the next chapter. Although before I write that, I am going to go and clean up some earlier chapters, write out the plot holes and fix up the grammar and spelling. Thanks again for checking this out and for all the reviews and favorites. I can't thank you enough, truly. **


End file.
